And the Pink Bag goes to...

Joni H.! Congratulations to Joni H. whose name was drawn from my Lucky Bucket! Joni will find a few crafty goodies in her bag along with a $25 Ben Franklin Gift Card and a real $10 bill (you know local style, can't give a bag to someone without some cash in it!)

Thank You to all of you for opening up your hearts and letting everyone know what other things in life you LOVE. Crafty people are so thoughtful and really care about a lot of things!

March is just around the corner and we'll be doing some fun things for National Craft month! Thank You again for visiting today and let's all send a shout out to Joni!

February's 2nd JOC show

Wow! February is just flying by and tonight a new episode of the Joy of Crafting show debuts.

First, we have Raynette Ching, from our Pearl City BFC, teach us an updated look to the Pakalana Lei from our Handcrafted Lei books.

Then, we have Chris Tomooka-Saito, from Crafts in the City, show us a great project for all you cardmakers! Using the Bind-it-all, she creates a great cardholder/organizer.

Our last guest for February is Puna Earl from our Enchanted Lake BFC. She shows us how to use Alcohol Inks to decorate those wonderful glass blocks.Here's a link for a project sheet for the little Kimono Girl she has in the block. It's actually a pin and it's perfect for Girl's Day.

Hope you're able to catch the show and learn something new from these talented ladies.Happy Crafting!

Happy FAT Tuesday!

Hi Y'all! I'm on the road again...in the heart of Rock 'n Roll...can you guess where?

Yup, Cleveland!It's snowing and this is what it looks like from my hotel room. Luckily, I have Fridge with me. We were talking about sports, so I was hoping to run into Lebron at the airport, I respect his skills even though I cheer for the West NBA All-Stars.

Then, with today being Mardi Gras, Fridge was reminiscing about the Saint's home turf and how good a nice hot beignet would be right now. He had a whole plateful when we were in NOLA after Katrina.That bear can eat!

Well, hope y'all having a Sweet Fat Tuesday! Don't forget tomorrow is the last day to comment (Feb 9th post) to win that Sweet Pink Bag, plus the goodies that'll be in it.

Thanks for stopping by today and Happy Fat Tuesday!

Floating Heart

OK, I know you've heard all the stories about food shaped into something Holy. Well, here's what I found floating in my ramen when I was in L.A., a floating heart of ginger! I swear I did not bite this into shape! It just appeared out of nowhere. Just like real love, huh?

You see, I know a lot of people who LOVE ramen (and they know who they are!) Speaking of LOVE...there's still time to comment on what YOU LOVE (go to Feb 9th's blog posting) You just might become the lucky winner of that fabulous pink bag! Hope you all are having a great Valentine's/Chinese New Year/President's day weekend!

It's like, Tubular, Dude!

Saw Jean's cute project over on her dandelion designs blog using some clear tubes. So, I Super-sized it!At Ben Franklin Crafts, we have these clear tubes that are about 8 5/8" tall. They are made from sturdy plastic and are FDA approved.

So, here's my project.Larger tube means more candy! ;) It is heavier, so I didn't try adding the ribbon handles. Only had my colored pencils with me to color in Max, but I think it worked.

Thanks for stopping by today.  WOW, a  two-post day! Have a great weekend everyone!

They call me the Bag Lady

Yes, I carry a lot of bags, especially at trade shows! (Good thing I'm strong.) Well, I always tell my co-workers that I believe "bukuro" in Japanese has something to do with bags, so it must be my destiny.

Today, I just wanted to remind you that a gorgeous pink bag could be a part of your destiny soon. Just go to the Feb 9th post and comment on what do you LOVE other than the obvious (Crafts, Sweetie, Family, Friends and Pets)

Hurry, Hurry! Make quick! Contest ends on Wednesday Feb. 17th! Thanks for stopping by and have a great Valentine's/Chinese New Year weekend!

So, What else do you LOVE?

OK, I think it's safe to say you LOVE CRAFTS because afterall, you're reading this blog. And I'm sure you love your Sweetie, Family, Friends and Pets(they're family, too). That's all a given. So now, my question to you is, what else do you LOVE?
As for me I love a lot of things. So, I'll share one, I LOVE all kinds of music, especially ROCK and music with R and B influences including some RAP.Sometimes when I like a song it's the lyrics or the story it tells and sometimes it's just the beat or the great guitar solo. My range goes from Shania Twain to Dr.Dre, from AC/DC to the Boss, Blues, Punk, Reggae and Hawaiian, it's endless! But if I had to choose only one, then I'm definitely a ROCKER!
So, here is where this is going...wanna be a Rockstar, too? Then you gotta have the accessories, right?!

Check it out! You can be the winner of this gorgeous pink "Peace" bag from Bo Bunny!

It's  very roomy, has a zipper closure, zippered outside pocket, comes with a shoulder strap and that blingy "Peace" sign. Of course, there'll be something inside it, too!
I love this bag, but I know, I'll love giving it away to one of you even more! Just leave a comment telling me what else do you LOVE?!
You have until Wednesday, Feb 17th to Declare your LOVE. I'll announce a random winner by that weekend.

Thanks for stopping by today and always sharing your LOVE with me! Happy Crafting!

February's First JOC Show

We're celebrating a lot this month starting with Valentine's Day!

Our first guest, Jerome Bautista, makes his debut on the JOC show with a fun and easy project for your sweethearts. Jerome will show us how to make a Candy Bouquet, something almost everyone loves to receive.

Then, we welcome Chris from Crafts in the City, downtown Honolulu's favorite craft store! Chris shows us a double duty project, it's for Valentine's Day as well as Chinese New Year (same day this year!)

Chris' card incorporates our favorite Hello Kitty and she also shows us how to make that cute photo accent with the I-Top tool.

Our last guest, Raynette Ching, is the expert lei maker at both Pearl City BFC and Crafts in the City. She will show us her updated version of a Pakalana Lei, great for Graduations and more!

Hope you get a chance to check out the show! Happy Crafting!

Measuring Up!

I really like Tim Holtz' Design Ruler because it has some great features. On one side it has the normal 1 inch markings. On the other side, the markings are configured to use as a centering ruler. It's clear. It has a metal edge. It even has tiny holes for those of you who like to pierce paper.The other thing I like is the packaging it comes in. I kept thinking I could do something with it. So, here's what I made.

A perpetual calendar starting with the month of February. I have tiny clothespins on the side to clip reminders. The cool part is that the center area is where the ruler was so there's space to put dimensional stuff like buttons and 3-D stickers. I think next month I might string a line through the bottom to hang my notes. We'll see.

Thanks for stopping by today and hope you enjoy your weekend!

Paper and Wood together make nice nice

A lot of you already use your scrapbook papers on different surfaces to create great projects. Here's a few projects I did in a workshop before CHA that uses that same idea with paper and wood.

Ok, this project has no paper in it but it does remind me of some of the scrapbook papers we have in the stores. The wooden box is similar to the square ones we have in the Ben Franklin stores right now. The box is just painted and stenciled with acrylic paints.

This project is a jumbo wooden clothespin that has been whitewashed with acrylic paint and covered with a strip of scrapbook paper. The wording was supposed to say"family" but I was thinking about my sweetie so I used this phrase instead. Ribbons add the finishing touches and I just need to clip a photo at the top.

This project uses a similar wall plaque hook that we have in the stores right now. For those red pieces, we used core'dinations cardstock and embossed and sanded them.The other fun touch was the pleated paper edge. We pleated and stapled it at the top to hold it together. My pleats aren't perfect but I kind of like it that way, makes it look more handmade.The staples are hidden by the top layer. We covered a chipboard flower and I sanded the edges to make it match.There was another phrase that was supposed to be there but I cut out the wording "material girl" instead since I don't know what I am going to hang on this hook.

This last project has layers of paper on a wood base with a hook. The layers of paper give it a "patchwork" look. All of the edges of the paper were inked  first. Yes, there is supposed to be a photo in the center but I just put the "Hello" to hold it's place.As you can tell by now, I take classes and tend to change things up so my sample is not like everyone else's.

Well, I hope this gives you some ideas of what you can do with your pretty papers on different surfaces. The main thing is to have FUN and enjoy your crafting time! Thanks for stopping by today and hope you have a great weekend!

FUN at CHA part 2

Well, if you have a part 1, I guess you're supposed to have a part 2, so here it is! Yes, CHA was fun and we saw a lot of new crafty items that we ordered  for our stores. Can't wait for them to get here! But the other fun part is seeing different ideas, like this one...

This is so simple to make and it's like DUH?! why not make a bunch!
Just take a 12 x 12 (or other square) and score it into 9 even sections (4 x4). Then, diagonally score the four corners, fold it up. Punch holes in the points and thread ribbon, tie to hold together. Fill with goodies!
So, that's my wiki wiki craft for today.

Sorry, I've been MIA but right after the Live Audience taping, we left to buy Christmas. Then, it was off to CHA. Got back Thursday, and from Saturday, I've been helping with store inventories. So, if you see me in the store, you'll see me with clipboard in hand, a little bug-eyed from counting and counting! So, I'm happy I got to craft today, even though it was only for a nano second!

I just want to Thank You all for being so great and visiting this blog. Now, if you can just wait a few more days, I will have a fun gift to giveaway! I just want to make sure it comes with this week's freight! {Had to send it that way since my suitcase was too heavy ! :) }